Foreign IT workers seen as solution to industry shortage

There is a rising demand for IT engineers in Japan as many point out there is a shortage of such professionals domestically. An estimate shows that Japan will face a shortage of close to 600,000 IT-related professionals by 2030. As companies are moving to recruit workers from overseas, skilled IT engineers, especially from Asia, are increasingly garnering attention. Such a trend seems to be in line with the government's policy to further increase the number of foreign workers with technical skills. What are some of the issues Japanese firms need to address when expanding the hiring of foreign workers? Staffing agencies reportedly plan to shore up their efforts to recruit IT workers from Asian countries. Meanwhile, a program called Project Indian Institutes of Technology (PIITs), which involves IT-powerhouse India, invites students from the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) to intern at Japanese firms. The Japan Times organized a forum on June 13, titled "IT human resources sought overseas by Japanese companies: an example of an internship program by IIT students," to enhance the discussion regarding the IT engineer situation in Japan. Japanese companies accepting IIT students as interns and Indian students taking part in the program were invited to discuss their thoughts. The participants of this forum were Hiroshi Hirabayashi, president and representative director of the Japan-India Association; Shigeo Mizuno, director and corporate vice president of Fujifilm Software Co.; Koji Iwamoto, deputy manager of the general planning department at Tonichi Printing Co.; and Toyoaki Machida, Japan general manager of the global section at Webstaff Co. Additionally, Himanshu Tolani, a third-year undergraduate student at the Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar; Shubham Jain, a third-year undergraduate student at the Indian Institute of Technology, Jodhpur; and Yash Ubale, a third-year undergraduate student at the Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar, participated. The moderator was Takashi Kitazume, chief editorial writer of The Japan Times. Below are excerpts of their discussion. Moderator: Thank you for your participation despite the bad weather today. At this panel discussion, I'd like to hear the intentions of those taking part in this program, the feedback from Japanese companies accepting Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) students as interns and also from the Indian students to enhance the discussion on the theme of "IT human resources sought overseas by Japanese companies: an example of an internship program by IIT students."